Guan Blackthorne
Guan Blackthorne is one of two sons to Cadden Blackthorne. He and Jerik were birthed from cloning cylinders, just like their half-brothers Caius and Xanic. Like their half-brothers, they themselves are not clones of either Cadden, their father, or their mother, Renalla. Rather, they were test-tube birthed. Due to unknown circumstances, their aging was, as a result, accelerated until puberty, after which the process stabilized to normal levels. The reasons for this are, to-date, unknown, and perhaps deliberate. Guan is the more insightful of the two young Blackthornes. He has always been more clear-minded than Jerik, and stronger with the usage of Force powers than his brother, as well. However, Jerik had been given Cadden's warrior blood and personality, which makes the blonde-haired brother of Guan's silent, more proficient with the lightsaber, and much more capable of defeating his opponents faster than the more conservative Guan. Despite their accelerated aging, Guan and Jerik are, easily, approaching time for their Jedi Trials and graduating to Knighthood. They made up the lost time by practicing their skills day in and day out until puberty, which has made them more than capable of being put up against others of their age in the Jedi Order. He prefers to only use his lightsaber if the time calls for it. Otherwise, he uses the other skills that he inherited from his mother, such as persuasion and Force powers, to get the job done. Alongside his brother, Guan has had an adventurous life since he left Ronu III. The day they were brought to their father, they have encountered more trouble, more adventures, than he dared to count. However, those days ended when Cadden departed from the two to Mandalore, and since then Guan has joined the Jedi Order's cause. He and his brother are currently stationed on Taylon, in the City of the Jedi, having survived the Cylon Imperium's attack on the world and a near-successful Xen'Chi assault not too long after. Guan continued to serve the Jedi while at the City, and with his brother, he formed the Guardians of Life. Soon after, the Cult of Shadow attacked Onderon and, while Jerik left to aid in the efforts, Guan chose the wiser option of staying on Taylon, though would later regret this decision. The Guardians' first official mission, however, was to find the man known as Sion, who turned out to be Caius Wyn. The mission was a failure, and the Guardians lost over half of the Jedi in the task force to Sion and his followers. When the Guardians returned to Taylon to give Cazzik the report, Wyn was grief-strucken. Not long after, Guan participated in the Battle of Chil'a'Chin. Guan would later learn of his father's disappearance and joined the Mandalorian Togra Locklear in attempting to find him, only to come to a cold trail. With the absense of Jerik since he left for Onderon, Guan feared the worst for his brother, and requested Togra that he deliver a message to his Mandalore that he would like to receive training. When Guan later traveled to Mandalore he met with Garen Starfall, the Mandalore and, after a brief conversation, Garen himself opted to train Guan in the warriors' ways. Biography Early Life Born and raised on Ronu III, Guan had no real knowledge of outside life for several years. Renalla Starrider, his mother, raised him, his brother, and two half-brothers by herself. Instructing each in the ways of the Jedi since they were of proper age, their training was accelerated due to their accelerated growth, a side-effect in their test-tube birthing process through cloning cylinders. When the four young Jedi hit puberty, the side-effect wore off. At the age of fifteen, they witnessed the traumatic experience of their mother falling ill to, and dieing from, a disease on the planet. They spent the next three years alone, until Cazzik Wyn and Xanamiar Knight found them and delivered them off-world. Jedi Knight The two Blackthornes traveled with the Wyns and Knight for some time, before Cazzik could track down their father, Cadden Blackthorne. When Guan and Jerik traveled with him, they came to realize that Cadden had a knack for attracting trouble. In the year prior to Blackthorne Enterprises being constructed in the Udine System, they had cracked down on several criminal organizations and waged a personal war against a small-time Imperial warlord. When the time for Blackthorne Enterprises finally came, both of the Blackthornes followed their father into the asteroid field, where Jerik learned of their Mandalorian heritage and was tempted by the Dark Side. However, Guan was able to help Jerik turn away from the asteroid, laden with Dark Side energies, and not return. Both young Blackthornes helped Cadden with the planning of making Udine independent from the Wild Star Confederacy, and later helped him dismantle Blackthorne Enterprises when complications arose that compromised the entire objective. During this time, they witnessed their first, and last, taste of the Nomad Soul's power, who had corrupted Cadden and turned him into an agent of darkness. Guan, with his father's help, was able to destroy the Nomad Soul. When it came time for the alleged Dark Justice team to be formed, Guan was at Midpoint Station, meeting with the Jedi there about the Xen'Chi and GAIT threats. There, he met Faarel Blackthorne, his grandfather, and was persuaded to stay with the Jedi, instead of returning to Cadden and helping his father. He traveled to Corellia with Faarel, and helped ward off a GAIT attack on CEC and the Jedi flagship, the Mace Windu. After the skirmish ended, both Blackthornes settled onboard, where Faarel was made a member of the new Jedi Council. Recently, Guan had been a key player in the defense of the City of the Jedi during the battle against the Cylon Imperium forces. Though less skilled in lightsaber combat, with the help of the Sokan techniques he picked up, he was able to defeat the dark Jedi Azriel in lightsaber combat. When the Xen'Chi attacked the city a month later, Guan aided in the ground defenses of the interior of the city, particularly the vital areas. He was assisted by Jaina Wyn and several other Jedi. After the battle was over, Jedi Master Trec Thul began giving him private lessons in advanced telekinesis, and the use of the power Electric Judgment. Guardians of Life Following the Battle of Taylon against the Xen'Chi, Guan and his brother reformed the Guardians of Life. They progressed with their own personal training at the City of the Jedi until after the Battle of Onderon, when Jerik traveled to Onderon and shortly thereafter disappeared. Guan took the Guardians with him and aided in a hunt to find the Dark Jedi known as Sion. Unlike many of his fellow Guardians, Guan was one of the few whom survived the hunt, and he went on to participate in the Battle of Chil'a'Chin. The Mandalorians Shortly after the battle, Guan was approached by the Mandalorian Togra Locklear, in hopes to find Cadden Blackthorne. Guan, upon hearing this news, asked if he could join the search, knowing that if his father went missing it was something big. Locklear reluctantly agreed, and allowed Guan, Neddac, and Ryy'Suuk to join him on the search. It proved to be a dead end, however, as the only place Guan could think of to find Cadden, the Udine System, was abandoned and no leads were to be found where he went. After their investigation was through, Guan, to his companions' surprise, asked Togra to relay a message to his Mandalore; that he wished to be trained as a Mandalorian, to take down a powerful individual in the Force. While Togra assumed he was referring to Cadden, in truth Guan had his own brother in mind, fearing that Jerik had fallen to the Dark Side. He had begun to regret not accompanying his brother to Onderon. Togra was not going to guarantee anything, but he promised Guan he would relay the message. After dropping Blackthorne off on Taylon, Togra left to Mandalore to fulfill that promise. Only a day or two later, after informing Cazzik Wyn about his decision, did Guan arrive as well. He was greeted by Togra and Garen Starfall, whereupon he repeated his request to the Mandalore. At first, Garen thought the Jedi to be kidding, but Togra gave him a silent reassurance that he was not. After some consideration, Garen agreed, and made certain that it would not be easy, something Guan expected in the first place. The Mandalorian Kevin Rasok offered Guan his place to stay, and that he would earn his keep by helping with whatever tasks Kevin required. Guan accepted, and accompanied Kevin to his home, where he met his family. The training was vigorous, and included in such Guan took the precaution to start learning their language from Kevin. What only lasted weeks felt like months to the Jedi, but when the Mandalorians were ready for their first battle since his arrival, Guan was there to fight alongside them. Over time, Guan had his own armor built, customized to fit his fighting style as a Jedi. Given his extensive record, as well as his knack to continually impress Garen and other Mandalorians, he was even given the prestigious Jaig eyes decoration for his helmet, and found himself wearing it proudly. It was his service to the Mandalorians, as well as an ambassador of sorts for the Jedi Order, that made Guan realize just what his father had been trying to do all along, and made him even more determined to find him. Exile Guan became separated from the Mandalorians, however, when Alexis Kiara visited him on Mandalore. Proclaiming that she would take him to his father, she instead took him to Dagobah, where she directed him to find Cadden in a cave. What Guan learned when he entered the cave was unknown, but it was certain that he conversed with his father (or, at the least, it seemed like his father) at that time. When he left the cave, Alexis was awaiting in ambush, and the two fought. However, Guan was little match for the skilled duelist, and while he managed to hold his own, eventually she got the upper hand. Rather than being struck down, Guan found himself swallowed whole by a giant dragonsnake. After Alexis had left the planet, believing him to be dead, Guan managed to cut his way out of the dragonsnake, and quickly realized he was stranded on a world that was strange and unfamilliar to him. He soon stumbled upon a hut, and the spirit of the Jedi Master Yoda, where he received advanced training in the Force for the next several months. Still with no way off the planet, Guan's training included a recurred visit to the cave, where he experienced a vision of an unknown Sith Lord waging a devastating war on the Jedi Order and bringing the galaxy to its knees. After this vision, he encountered an illusion of his brother and fought and killed it, and held another conversation of what he assumed was his father. He left the cave and, while he continued his training with Yoda's spirit, his thoughts dwelled on what he encountered. When he finally consulted the Jedi Master, the only wisdom he received was of a cryptic message he did not understand. Guan's time left of Dagobah was filled with training in the ways of the Force, as he continued to find what he sought for on the world. On his last day in the swamps, a lone ship touched down, and out strode a Jedi who claimed to related to him. Faarel's spirit spoke to Guan, and assured him that Aaralyn Blackthorne was real. Finding little other choice, he reluctantly allowed himself to leave with her. Third Jedi Purge Guan reunited with Ryy'Suuk and Neddac, and soon parted ways from Aaralyn. He opted to take some time at the Onderon temple to understand what he had gone through. After a short conversation with Daer'Gunn, Guan spent his time in the temple meditating on the Force. He soon knew what to do, and departed for the Ronu System, in response to recent reports of Jedi being killed in that area of space. Upon arrival on Ronu II, Guan soon learned that the individual behind the deaths of the Jedi was none other than his brother himself. The two engaged in a fierce duel, one which Guan ultimately lost. His brother delivered a fatal blow, piercing through Guan's abdomen with his lightsaber. Guan deadened himself to slow the wounds, in a last-minute effort to save his own life. Neddac and Ryy'Suuk tracked him to his location. They initially believed him to be dead, but upon hooking him up to the Hellfire's medical sensors, Neddac picked up a very subtle signal of life. Guan was immediately transported to Ossus, where he was taken into intensive care onboard the medical ship Mercy. Skills and Abilities Training in the Force Guan was, at one point, timid about using his lightsaber, but over the years he has grown to become an accomplished duelist, defeating several enemies (including the dark Jedi Azriel, whom was a skilled duelist in her own right) in combat. Since informally joining the Mandalorians, Guan has become a more powerful individual, both through the Force and in combat. Lightsaber Training Guan became a great duelist, despite his young age, after the Battle of Taylon. When he fought Azriel, he knew he would have to hone his skills in lightsaber combat. As such, Guan has found mastery in Soresu and Sokan, and utilizes elements of Ataru and Shii-Cho in his swordsplay. He also knows Niman and possesses some skill in Jar'Kai. In addition to this, Guan has also learned many elements of Makashi, which he frequently employs in his duels against his enemies. Coupled together, Guan has come a long way since his early training, and has become a rather dangerous foe to encounter on the battlefield. Force Powers Despite his newfound focus on lightsaber combat, Guan is by no means lacking in the other applications of the Force. Typically, he will utilize the Force in a confrontation, before his lightsaber, unless absolutely necessary. Though still widely untrained in the more advanced aspects of the Force, Guan can employ combat-related powers such as Battlemind and Precognition, as well as other powers like Force Blinding, Force Healing, Force Persuasion, variants of Force Push, Force Stun or Stasis, Malacia and Mind trick. Recently, with the held of Trec Thul, Guan has become able to use the dangerous Electric Judgement Force power, as well as advanced telekinesis abilities. With this wide array of powers, Guan has been speculated to be of greater potential than his father. Whether this is true or not is yet to be determined. This was first demonstrated during his fight with his brother, when Guan employed Morichro to keep himself from dieing by Darth Odium's blade, despite having no training in using the technique. Other Training Guan has received other, more fundamental, teachings from the dangerous Mandalorians, including unorthodox fighting as well as the handling of more mundane weapons, such as the Mandalorian Autoblaster, the Mandalorian Assault Carbine, and the Mandalorian Assault Rifle. Having grown into an expert marksman, like his father, Guan has shown his skill in unconventional warfare to his new Mandalorian allies, and has even impressed several of the warriors, reminding them much of his father. Category:Cadden Category:City of the Jedi Category:Guardians of Life Category:Jedi Order Category:Mandalorian Protectors Category:Mandalorians Category:Jedi Order Characters